The Oregon Corporate Activity Tax is a newly enacted tax on Oregon businesses for the privilege of doing business in the state. On December 9, 2019, the Oregon Department of Revenue released eight draft administrative rules related to the Oregon Corporate Activity Tax (“CAT”). The rules relate to implementation of the CAT, which goes into effect on January 1, 2020, and cover the following topics:

• General Rules for estimated payments
• Estimated payments for unitary groups
• Underpayment of/delinquent estimated payments
• Criteria to establish nexus between a business and Oregon
• Unitary group criteria for the CAT
• Property brought into Oregon
• The definition of agent
• Filing extensions

According to the ODOR, the rules will be officially filed with the Secretary of State on January 1, 2020.  The draft rules have been preemptively released so taxpayers and tax professionals can review the rules and prepare for the implementation. Once the rules are officially filed with the Secretary of State, they will be considered temporary rules for 180 days. The ODOR plans to begin adopting permanent rules after April 1, 2020.

The drafts of the rules can be found at the Oregon Department of Revenue CAT website.